Dream a Dream
By Masaharu Taniguchi
Dream a dream, my dear brothers and sisters,
Whether you are young or whether you are old,
Dreams greater than any you’ve dreamed before.
Your dream will transcend your physical body
to fill the empty skies,
Like a cloud that permeates the universe far and wide,
And becomes a great pair of wings to lift you
to a higher world.
Your wings are the mystic wings of life.
So, when you ride the mystic wings of your dreams,
The young mature in mind and body,
And the old grow young again.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Do not rest the wings of your dreams;
Visualize your greatness to the limit of your powers.
Do not fear that you are soaring too high,
Do not hesitate,
Do not shrink back,
Do not delimit yourself.
Ride the wings of your dreams and rise
above your physical limitations.
Thought you body my be smaller than the tiniest mold,
By dreaming a dream, your mind will become one
with the great Mind that created heaven and earth.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Do not be struck down by sadness.
But if you are, stand up again,
Your dreams may be shattered,
But you still have the freedom to dream on.
Imagine that you still have great power
left in you.
To those who dream a dream,
This world is always the New Heaven and
the New Earth.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not fall down.
But if you do, rise again;
Though your hopes may be gone and your effort smashed,
Do not stay beaten.
Dreams are the seedbed of your hopes.
A new seedling of hope will come shooting
up again.
From the inexhaustible seedbed fed by your dreams,
The seedling of hope will grow, nourished by
your dreams.
Dreams are the seedbed of your hopes.
Dear brothers and sisters, make your dreams
as big and bright as you can.
Never think of yourself as being dark and sad,
Know that your mind is the all-powerful creator.
With your mind, you make yourself into what you
think of yourself.
If you think of yourself as being dark and sad,
you become exactly that.
But if you think of yourself as being bright and
a great man, that is what you become.
Why? Because the mind is omnipotent power.
Dear brothers and sisters,
No one ever became great
Without first dreaming a dream of greatness.
Every so-called greatness in our world
Was first a product of your dreams, was it not?
The discovery of the American continent by Columbus
Was really your dream taking sail to carry
Columbus across the rough seas, was it not?
Are not the airplane and the radio – not to mention
the train, steamship and car –
All your dreams that have taken form?
Your mind dreamt of a new continent.
Then the American continent was soon discovered.
When your dream was a dream of man flying through the air,
The airplane was invented.
When your mind dreamed of “moving pictures,”
The silent film came into being.
And when you visualized “talking pictures.”
“Talkies” appeared in your world.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Be the hero of your dreams;
Realize that all of your dreams can and will come true.
When you realize that dreams are potent,
You yourself become truly omnipotent.
Even a dream-world hero
May appear to fail now and then.
But never abandon hope no matter what may happen.
For, it is when failure seems imminent
That you are closest to the realization of your hopes.
Apparent failure
Is a harbinger of success.
The negative always becomes positive.
Having lost all hope of ever finding land,
The crew under Columbus
Seized and imprisoned their captain.
But that was when they were closest to the new continent.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The negative turns positive.
Whenever doubts crowd your mind,
Simply recall the story of Columbus.
Do not fear failure,
Know that every time you fail
You are that much closer to the realization of your dreams.
And let your dreams become your life jacket,
That you may swim safely through life’s stormiest seas.
January 1977, Truth of Life magazine, pgs. 32-35
